Category Archives: surface decoration

Surface Inspiration

Browsing images of inspiration in my Pinterest Boards, a few recent ‘pins’ have really stood out and caught my eye. I use these images to develop surface design/decoration ideas onto the surface of clay when making.

Can you believe the above image is of rust? It’s amazing how something so old and weathered can appear so beautiful. I love the colours.

This fantastic piece above is by artist Amy Eisenfeld Genser, I recently came across her work and has trouble choosing which image to share… Each of her individual dimensional paper collages are stunning. Check out her website for more inspirational pieces.

Another image that truly inspires me is this beach snapshot above. I love the contrasting light and dark colours, amongst layers of texture and linear patterns. I think this would make a stunning wall piece.

Patterns in Nature

I think these amazingly close up images of tree cells and cross sections of tree roots are stunning! I’ll be using them as inspiration for some new designs… I love the different sized circular shapes bundled together in little patterns.

This week…

Following the popularity of my mini ceramic art, I have been experimenting with some pieces on a larger scale this week. The Ceramic Landscape Art pictured above includes chunks of different coloured dried pieces of clay that were pressed into the surface of the panel when the clay was soft. This piece also features areas of my signature volcanic crater glaze, and coloured slips that have been applied to create a textural feel to the surface. The back of the ceramic panel has a similar decorative design so that it could be changed around. This panel comes complete with an acrylic display stand (pictured below) and can be displayed in a landscape or portrait position.

The panel above was fun to make and has quite an abstract look to it. I’m now working on some more ‘scenic’ panels that will be a little more simple and elegant.

Here’s some snippets of a couple of pieces in progress, yet to be glazed and fired. I’m not sure how they will be glazed as yet, but I will probably keep them looking natural and organic. I think they would make stunning features displayed in the home ~ Might keep one of these initial ones for myself!

I’ve also been working on some new pieces that I’m making for The Light Decoration as one of their official merchandise creators (read more about that here). Below are some of the brooches and magnets in progress that include a ‘Beside The Sea‘ theme. I’m also working on some beach huts, plaques, pendants and mini art for The Light Decoration novel series. I’ve been waiting to get these fired for a couple of weeks now, but waiting on a new element for my kiln to be delivered is taking longer than expected. Hopefully it should arrive on Monday!

On top of all of that (as well as trying to make the most of the sunshine), I sent a batch of items to a new shop in Derby called Pretty Things this week. The shop only opened on Monday, but they have a huge array of ‘pretty’ items on display – if you are in the area why not pay them a visit?

Pretty Things
35 Market Hall
Derby
DE1 2DB

Surface Designs

Looking through my folder of inspiration images, I came across many that involved some sort of circular design. I put together this collage above of some of my favourites, and then compared them to some images of my work involving circles too. I think it is clear to say that circle patterns in nature are a big source of inspiration for my work!








Looking closer

I often enjoy cropping my photos or taking close ups of the surfaces of my work, it’s surprising what can be seen when you look closer – sometimes a whole new image appears.

For me, it’s always landscapes and organic scenery that pop into my head when I look closer. The photo above makes a lovely image, taken from my Pine Tree Coasters.
The close up textured surface detail below is from one of my vases, it reminds me of a dried grass meadow and a tree overlooking the scene on a windy day, with a hazy sky above.


The close up surface of my Deep Sea Blue Cave Vessel below reminds me of a rocky sea scape.


And this impressed surface detail of my Tree Bark Sculptural Vessel below reminds me of the face of a cliff with the foamy see lapping up the sides.


You can click on the names of each piece above to view the actual pieces if you’re interested.
I’m thinking about making mounted prints using photographs of my work like the examples above.


Quite amazing what zooming in on surfaces can do to the eye isn’t it?

What do you see?

Surface Decoration

Can you guess what these close up images are of?






Regular readers of my blog may have recognised the detailed surface decoration above to be close up sections of my ceramic heart bowls.



I was waiting impatiently for these to come out of the kiln last week! The melted glass in the bases makes the bowls really stand out and it creates a glimmering effect in different lights.


All of these bowls are available in the Bowls & Dishes section of my website, and will be coming with me to the Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience if I haven’t sold any before then.

Do you like them? What would you use them for? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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